Warfield cottage nets state tax credits for renovation

A project to renovate a building in the Warfield Cultural and Commerce Center, in Sykesville, has been awarded $246,619 in state tax credits in Maryland's Sustainable Communities Tax Credit program.

This week Gov. Martin O'Malley announced that five projects statewide, including Warfield, will receive the credits in a program that officials said would help create some 500 construction jobs. State officials said that in all, the five projects received a total of $6,992,341 in tax credits to leverage construction projects with a total cost of $31,836,476.

Warfield is the office and cultural center being redeveloped along Route 32 from property that was once part of Springfield Hospital Center.

A building known as the "G" Cottage, built in 1927, was constructed in the Georgian Revival style by architect Henry Powell Hopkins. The cottage represented one of the later buildings in the Warfield complex, which was developed between 1898 and 1939 as a women's state hospital for those with mental ailments.

Cottage "G" was used as a dormitory to care for female epileptic patients, and the tax credits will go toward a project to convert the vacant dormitory to commercial office space.

"These projects are smart growth. They breathe new life into empty or under-used existing buildings and they are catalysts in revitalizing our communities and strengthen the economy throughout our State," said Richard Hall, secretary of the Maryland Department of Planning, in a statement.

The Maryland Historical Trust, under MDP, administers the program. The five applications selected for the 2013 tax credit were based on criteria set up by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior for historic rehabilitation standards.

In addition to the Warfield cottage, other recipients and the amounts awarded are:

• Centre Theatre, Baltimore, $3 million for a conversion of a vacant commercial building to multi-user art center and restaurants

• Baltimore Traction Co. Car Barn and Power House, Baltimore, $2.82 million for a conversion of a former cable car powerhouse to office space.

• Eastern Shore Conservation Center, Easton, $875,000 for the conversion of a former industrial laundry to conservation-oriented office spaces